12:18

That is also why the crowd went out to meet Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign: This verse explains why the crowd was so eager to meet Jesus. The people had heard that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. There is a textual issue here:

(1) Some Greek texts do not include the word meaning also. For example:

Because they had heard that Jesus had performed this miraculous sign, the crowd went out to meet him. (NET Bible Bible)

(New International Version, Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version, Good News Translation, NET Bible Bible, New Living Translation (2004), Revised English Bible, God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, New Century Version)

(2) Other Greek texts include the word meaning also. This makes this a second reason for people going out. The first reason is in verse 12: the great crowd that went to the festival heard that Jesus was coming. The second reason is that they heard that Jesus had raised Lazarus to life. For example:

This was another reason why the crowd came out to receive him: they had heard that he had given this sign. (New Jerusalem Bible)

(Berean Standard Bible, King James Version, New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible, New American Standard Bible)

It is recommended that you follow option (1). The majority of English translations follow this option. The English Standard Version is therefore used in the Display:

The reason why the crowd went out to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. (English Standard Version)

the crowd: This crowd is first mentioned in 12:12. The people in this crowd had heard about the miracle because the other (smaller) crowd mentioned in 12:17a told them about it. Consider how it is most natural to refer to this group of people. For example:

Many people (New International Version)

He had performed this sign: This clause refers to Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. This miracle was a sign that showed that Jesus was the Messiah. The word performed here means “did.”

General Comment on 12:18

The Berean Standard Bible states the action and then its cause, while some English versions describe the cause of the action first. Follow the order that is most natural in your language. For example:

That was why the crowd met him—because they heard that he had performed this miracle. (Good News Translation)
-or-
Because the crowd heard that Jesus had performed this miracle, they came to meet him. (God’s Word)

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